Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments on the Finalist 

Through constructed scenes, rearranged stories, and performances, the artist reveals different approaches to viewing while responding to history and his own life experiences, pointing out the absent sense of history in the generation of people born around the lifting of martial law. The techniques of video creation demonstrate a sensibility-based perspective to writing and depicting history. Using these techniques, the artist shows and reminds us of the necessary alertness in terms of viewing past narratives. How history and perception can be manipulated through construction becomes the central idea of this exhibition. All the scenes in the videos and installations are interlaced and layered, portraying multifacetedly the quintessential attitude of remaining “hollow” when dealing with history or politics—only through such attitude can actions become possible. (Commentator: CHANG Ching-Wen)

Artwork Introduction

Filmmakers and artists born before and after the lifting of martial law might possess knowledge about Taiwan’s politics and history, but they still lack firsthand encounters and emotions tied to that period. This rupture in historical experience and the void in historical memory have compelled CIOU Zih-Yan to contemplate how to evolve from the aesthetics of Taiwan’s New Wave Cinema to create visual narratives that resonate with their own circumstances. Thus, the exhibition title 「 」 (blank quotation marks) refers to the artist’s creative approach of “filling in the blanks,” forming dialectical images as an approach to respond to one’s comprehension and recollection of the martial law history.

About the Artist

CIOU Zih-Yan (b. 1985) obtained his MFA from National Taiwan University of Arts in 2012. He mainly works with media art (video and installation) to delve into the nuanced historical and mnemonic dimensions of Taiwan’s White Terror era. His artistic practice often embraces a methodological approach of supplementation, strategically filling in blanks as a means to construct narratives and elucidate historical frameworks. He also endeavors to use the aesthetic perspective of the Taiwanese New Cinema of the 1980s as a point of departure to adopt neo-historical imagery as the main narrative structure while engaging in a continuous dialectical process to respond to Taiwan’s fragmented historical consciousness.

Production Team

Organizers: Chew’s Culture Foundation, Hong-Gah Museum

Sponsors: Ministry of Culture, National Culture and Arts Foundation, Hakka Affairs Council, Taipei City Government Department of Cultural Affairs

Special Thanks: 

RenZhiChu Kindergarten, You Don't Know Me At All, Oh.oo Studio, Mothra Productions, Chih-Feng Chien

Director: Zoe Yeh

Exhibition Producer: Daisy Li

Exhibition Coordinator: Ho-Ching Fan

Public Relations: Jessica Chen

Interns: Lin Wen-Ling, Weng I-Yun, Danson Wong, Sam Wang, Lin Shiu-Hao, Ke Sheng Wei, Chew Yu-Rong

Visual Design: Ni Xiang

Technical Installation: Middle of Nowhere Art

Onsite Production: Dahan Interior Design Engineering Co., Ltd

Projector Sponsership: Optoma